


Rusted Space

by EpiKatt



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Fluff, Gay Robots, M/M, Outer Space, Robots, Science Fiction, Spaceships, Tell me if i need more im too tired to think, Torture, Waterboarding, Yum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 15:28:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16997625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpiKatt/pseuds/EpiKatt
Summary: The Space au no one asked for of Spineworth.Hatchworth and The Spine have a few chance meetings in their travels.





	Rusted Space

**Author's Note:**

> This took me way too long to write.. but I'm pretty proud of it, so I do hope you enjoy.

______

 

_ 3348, Quadrant B of Earth, sector 3 of 9. _

 

The Spine steps off the half-finished spaceship with a flourish, movement graceful and only slightly jerky, though he may be higher ranking, he certainly wasn't new. 

 

He had just done a thorough search through the whole ship, and by search, it was really just observation. The Spine was just making sure his new ship was coming along right. He really didn't want a repeat of his last ship… 

 

The man himself shook himself out of his stupor and continued his brisk walk down the walkway and further into the station, easily making his way around human personnel.

 

As The Spine walked, he thought about who he's going to bring back for a second interview onto his crew, having already looked through several resùmes since his last crew suddenly didn't want to be under his rule after the um…  _ incident,  _ put lightly.

 

So deep into his thoughts, he really didn't take notice of the slightly shorter bronze robot currently occupied with something on his holo-pad. It really shouldn't be a surprise to say they both collided with a loud metallic  _ bang. _

 

The two stumbled back, one releasing a hiss of steam and other’s hat being knocked off, revealing nearly neon orange hair.

 

Though neither hit the ground, they both stumbled back a few feet before they were able to right themselves.

 

The bronze robot was quick to apologize, wasting no time on identifying a higher ranking bot thanks to the digi-tag that probably just popped up in his field of vision.

 

_ Cpt. The Spine (Cpt. Spine) _

_ Age: 264 years _

_ Preferred Gender Pronouns: Male _

_ Ship Name: Undetermined, ship being built. _

_ Model: Ti-X22 _

_ Registration Code: 371VHTI _

_ BioMetrics Information can be found  _ _ here _ _. _

 

Even a similar screen was popping up in The Spines vision, but with the bronze robot's information.

 

_ Lead Technician Hatchworth (L.Tch Hatchworth) _

_ Age: 253 years _

_ Preferred Gender Pronouns: Male _

_ Technician Usage: Ship construction, Building Construction  _

_ Model: BZ-N12T _

_ Registration Code: 318HJXG _

_ Biometrics Information can be found  _ _ here _ _. _

 

“Oh, ah.. sorry Captain, I was a bit.. occupied?” The bronze robot- no,  _ Hatchworth,  _ as his digi-tag displayed.

 

“It was of no ill-will, so I'm not angry. What may I call you?” The Spine asks inquisitively.

 

“Hatchworth is fine, sir, Hatchy to friends,” The robot replies, seeming to realize he lost his hat and quickly stooped down to put it on, adjusting it until it fit correctly, smoke stack a bit of a hindrance.

 

The Spine stuck out his silver hand amiably. Hatchworth looked at it, and attempted to grab his hand to finish his half. It took a few tries, but he eventually got it and shook The Spine's hand confidently. The Spine could only look at him, slightly amused. “How are you able to handle fine machinery if you can't perform a handshake?”

 

“My optics aren't quite programmed to handle.. well,  _ hands,  _ they're meant to see wires and focus in on them,” He replies with easily, unperturbed. 

 

The Spine seems to contemplate this for a second. “Fair reasoning I'll say. Though that's a bit outdated, even for your model, when’s the last time you've had repairs?” He asks curiously, retracting his hand and easily steering Hatchworth more toward the bar nearby where they can chat a bit easier. Hatchworth didn't seem to mind.

 

“Says you, your model is at least ten years older than mine, but I have to say, you’ve kept it in quite fine working order,” Hatchworth says with a quick scan of The Spines body. If The Spine was able to blush, he thinks he'd be doing it then. 

 

“What of your last repair?” He asks, trying to steer the conversation. 

 

“What month is it again, January? Thirty three years ago next month,” Says the bot with a pleasurable grin.

 

The Spine himself, was mildly bewildered. “Thirty-Thirty three  _ years?” _

 

“That is a long while, isn't it? I haven't found a need to repair my body, bit too expensive.”

 

The Spine coughs a bit, shifting and making sure his spines lay comfortably in their slots, since they like to come out against his will.

 

“My last one was two months ago, hard to keep my chassis this shiny,” The Spine admits with a halfhearted shrug.

 

Hatchworth tilts his head with a wry grin, an odd look on the robot’s face. “Bronze is a naturally dull material, staying shiny is near impossible. I gave up years ago,” he says with a high pitched giggle.

 

The Spine felt that most people are put off by the odd giggle, he found it strangely...endearing.

 

“I still find myself liking the shiny look for myself, I feel you'd look nice, shiny or dull,” The Spine says carefully, looking to the right of Hatchworth and eyeing some kids who were dancing oddly. 

 

“I-well- thank you,” The robot finally stammers, monotonic voice slightly disgruntled. 

 

The Spine, shoulders a little less hunched, settled back with a satisfied grin. “No problem,” he says easily, finding this newfound confidence exhilarating. 

 

“Hey uh, would you like to-”

 

“Captain! We need you on the ship! One of the technicians wired your quarters wrong and we need you there!” Cried Rabbit.

 

As The Spine stood to leave, he took notice that Hatchworth actually looked disappointed, about what, The Spine didn't know. “I shall.. see you around, Hatchworth,” he says.

 

As The Spine turned to leave, Hatchworth grabbed his wrist gently. “Call me Hatchy,” he says calmly, but the copious amount of steam leaving his smokestack lead The Spine to believe otherwise. 

 

“Of course. Goodbye, Hatchy,” He replies with a smile, a tone of finality hidden in there.

 

Hatchworth nodded and let go, sitting back.

 

The Spine walked to his ship, already switching into captain mode to deal with the idiots.

 

_____________

 

_ 3351, Quadrant B of Earth, sector 6 of 9 _

 

It's a complete three years before The Spine lays his optics on Hatchworth again. As he is a robot, he cannot forget, at least not easily, so it was no surprise that when he saw the other robot, he recognized him immediately. 

 

He hesitates by his ship, he was currently overseeing repairs from a small skirmish with space whales, (the whales thought they were sky sharks.) He eventually just lets out a puff of steam and walks smoothly over the the bronze robot.

 

The ‘bot in question hears the semi-familiar gait and turns around, expecting almost anybody other than Captain Spine. His temperature raises a few degrees at the sight of the man in a crisp blue uniform. 

 

The Spine grins at the sight of Hatchworth, stopping a few feet away, a respectable distance. “How long has it been now, eh? It has to have been three years, if my memory serves correct,” The Spine says easily, feeling his spines shift at the sight of an old companion. 

 

“At least,” Hatchworth agrees, smiling back and releasing a stream of white steam from his smokestack, partly out of necessity, partly out of nervousness. 

 

Spine gives a small hum and quickly checks his ship, glancing behind him. He looks a little melancholy, if Hatchworth is distinguishing the emotion correctly.

 

“I only have another.. hour or so until I must leave to go to another quadrant. But until then, would you like to catch up in my quarters and watch some television?” The Spine ventures, seeming a bit bashful now.

 

_ Holy mongrel, his quarters! Does he have a pet fish? I bet he does.. _

 

“I don't mind! Not at all. I just need to tell my coworkers and we can go,” he replies, turning around on one heel and quickly informing his friends that he'll be gone for the next hour and to not, under any circumstances, alert him. They seem to understand and nod their assent.

 

He then turns on his heel yet again and makes his way back to The Spine, only partly a bit flabbergasted to see him still waiting.

 

“Alright, let's go.”

 

**.  . .**

 

They mostly spent that hour talking about mundane things that had happened. One thing was the circumstances that had brought Hatchy to that particular sector. The...hood, of the quadrant, one might say.

 

Hatchworth just said that he was employed to fix a fleets comms and was paid quite substantially for it. He wasn't staying much longer than The Spine, funnily enough. 

 

The Spine did eventually have to end their little meeting, saying he has to prepare his ship for Overdrive into deep space, a small shortcut to Quadrant C.

 

Hatchworth of course understands and nods. 

 

As he leaves, he looks at The Spine a bit longer than strictly necessary. “I'll um.. see you around,” he says, making himself sound a bit upbeat, an odd _ ..feeling..  _ in his chest as he reluctantly forces out the next words. “Goodbye.”

 

Somehow. Somehow Hatchworth can tell that Spine feels the same, when he too says “Goodbye,” in that tone.

 

They part ways, hoping they'll see each other again with a quiet surety that it will somehow happen. 

 

__________

_ 3356, Quadrant A of Earth, sector 9 of 9 _

 

“Um.. Captain..”

 

“Yes, Rabbit?”

 

“There's a hostile ship approaching.. just thought you'd like to know..”

 

“Yes.. That is quite helpful. Inform the crew to assume battle positions, if you will.”

 

“Yes of course, Captain.”

 

The Spine stood at his control panel, peering out into the vastness of space, looking for the aforementioned hostile ship.

 

He hummed in dissatisfaction and upped the zoom on his optics, scanning the dark outside.

 

After a few more seconds, he caught sight of a large ship, larger than theirs, anyway, with the usual fluorescent white lights that most ships use.

 

“Alright.. we have about ten minutes until confrontation,” he mutters to himself with a frown.

 

He glanced down and saw Rabbit was returning. “We need to prepare the light cannons, we have ten minutes, at maximum, until confrontation. They are a bigger ship, so we need to put as much energy as we can into our deflection shields. Got it?”

 

Rabbit stood there for a second, absorbing it, and then nodded, scampering off to alert the crew to the Captain's orders.

 

“I made a good choice in choosing her to be my Lieutenant,” he says mildly, turning back to his panel. 

 

“It's about to get serious,” he mutters, briefly thinking of Hatchworth. It brought a slight smile to his face, before he quickly pulled it off, getting into the right state of mind for battle.

 

**.  . .**

 

“Prepare for boarding! We've been breached! Ready your weapons!” Spine cries, lights flashing about him as he gives off orders, plasma gun in hand and light rifle on his back.

 

There was shouting all around him and a loud buzzing as his crew tried to fix the infrastructure breaks.

 

There was a loud screech and his ship heaved, causing everyone to fall to the floor. 

 

There was a solid thirty seconds of absolute silence before the screaming started.

 

“Prepare! They're on the ship! Stick with a partner! And for god's sake, don't do anything stupid!”

 

There was a loud yell of assent before his crew charged toward the screaming and started firing. 

 

He himself stayed in the back, as loathe as he was to do so, and kept an eye on the repairs, and giving orders.

 

When he started more men being shot than shooting, was when he finally seemed it time to interfere.

 

He brought out his light rifle, put his plasma gun in his hip holster, and charged forward.

 

“Move aside!” He snarls, cocking his gun with a menacing  _ slide-click. _

 

His crew did so without another word, warily eyeing their captain, a bit worried.

 

He brought up his rifle, aimed for the nearest intruder, and fired.

 

The one he was aiming for groaned and fell to the floor with a clang. 

 

That's the thing with light rifles, they're especially made for disintegrating metal, perfect for destroying robots. And they're only government issued, so they're not so commonly seen on the metaphorical streets.

 

That's why when later, when most of the enemy crew had been dealt with, he didn't prepare for them to have one. When he saw a tall looking man with dark black hair, a green suit, and an evil looking sneer carrying one, he instantly knew it was their Captain. 

 

_ Showing his cards, it would seem.  _ He mused silently.

 

That amusement quickly left when he realized what the man was carrying. This wasn't quite like the one he had. This one looked rougher, meaner,  _ darker.  _ This one had been modified. How, he wasn't sure, but he really didn't want to find out.

 

“Fall back! Come on you rusty plates, fall back!” He barked, the order coming out loud and obvious.

 

His crew, yet again, needed no further urging and quickly sprinted further into the bowels of the ship.

 

The Spine covered them as they fled, staying behind to make sure all of them made it past the heavy metal door, their second plan of defense.

 

Once all of them slipped through, he slung his rifle over his back and sprinted as fast as his legs could operate.

 

Just before he could get through, there was a loud  _ pling  _ and a sudden pain in his back, spreading through his spines and into his bellows.

 

“Ah ah ah.. not so fast, Captain. You're not getting away from this that easily. Not after you shot down my supply ships, last week, was it?”

 

The Spine just gasped in a breath, ‘lungs’ burning as the rifles influence burned brighter. He desperately crawled for the door, steel fingers grasping at the smooth surface. He quickly gave up and collapsed, struggling to draw in air, little shudders ripping through his body as the lack of fuel started affecting his previously unaffected parts. 

 

“Better get those prayers across, Captain. You won't be leaving this ship alive,” the other man says darkly, approaching him with calm footsteps. 

 

Before he reached The Spine, there was another bang as something hit his ship, and the clearing of a throat in an intercom. 

 

“Ah, Commander Cosmo here, an ally of Captain Spine here. Could you by any chance, leave? We won't follow you this once, but we do have you surrounded, if you do decide to stay. But, I'd really suggest leaving,” says the commander with his usual easygoing voice. 

 

The man sneered and turned, hurrying to his ship. “Do not forget the name Necrostar, Captain,” he snarls, climbing onto his ship along with his lackeys. A moment later, a low thrumming filled the air as the ship flew off.

 

There were footsteps and an exclaimed “Captain!” from who he guessed was Rabbit before everything went blank.

 

**.  . .**

 

You see, the thing about robots was that scientists wanted them as humanistic as possible, but not completely looking like a human, thus the metal plating and such, when they could easily give them skin and such.

 

So when creating some newer robots, in the last 500 years or so, they decided to give them taste buds, pain receptors, and what some humans called gross, pleasure receptors. 

 

What most people didn't realize, was that robots were very sensitive to pain. Not little things, mind you, but bigger ones, like bullet wounds or removal of limbs, it hurt twice as much. This was to see how robots reacted to it, and the scientists used this knowledge. When they designed new robots after the testing, they didn't get rid of it for some odd reason. So it's just been integrated. 

 

Most robots were manual laborers, not many were captains like The Spine, or technicians for ships like Hatchworth. Sure, robot technicians were everywhere, one of the most common roles actually, but going on ships and traveling, those are rarer. So major injuries for robots were few and far between.

 

Morphine for robots doesn't really exist, they can clip their pain receptors, but those can never be fixed for some odd reason. They never like to be recalibrated. And it can cause other problems, so most robots don't don't do it. They just trudge on and wait to be repaired. which could take as long as a day, to a month.

 

In conclusion, when The Spine awoke, he was going to be in a lot, of pain. Robots aren't known for surviving Light rifle blasts, he may be lucky, but he sure will be in pain.

 

**.  . .**

 

Pain. That was the first thing that he registered, then warbled voices around him, people moving and arguing with someone at the door.

 

As he became more awake, the pain got greater, and soon, he was groaning, back arching as his damaged spines slid out, causing even more pain. With all this, It was no wonder he cried out and started writhing.

 

“Shit, he’s awake. We need to restrain him, put him on a hard material flat surface, we need to pin him to it so his spines don't come out,” says a low voice.

 

A moment later, he was being lifted and his spines retracted fully, twisted, burnt, and sharp.

 

A moment later he was placed on a hard surface, then tied to it. His eyes snapped open as memories flashed through his mind from similar scenarios to this, being tied down.

 

His spines kept trying to come out, causing a constant screeching noise to come from under him.

 

“Nonononononono. Let me go, oh God please let me go!” He cries desperately, legs scrabbling at the surface beneath him, hips in the air, but back, arms, and shoulders still thoroughly pinned down.

 

“Oh no no no… not the water please God not that,” he begs, eyes glazed as he further slipped into memories.

 

The people in the room looked at him in horror, not knowing what to do.

 

One of those people, were Hatchworth.

 

**.  . .**

 

_ He was in a dark room, barely lit save for one LED lamp in the corner, casting an eerie glow across the room, and into the dark corner The Spine was in. _

 

_ He glared at the bonds tying him to a pipe on the ceiling. He wasn't human, because hanging like this for this long would have killed him hours ago. _

 

_ He stiffened at the sound of footsteps, silently begging they weren't coming back. He really wasn't one for more torture.  _

 

_ Sadly, his torturer walked through the door with a smug smile. _

 

_ “Do you realize how hard it is to torture a robot? I've had to get creative. And I know your model's fuel is breathing in the air, so I've saved this little bit for later, but I've been impatient. So you'll have to do it now, sorry, but not really.” _

 

_ Lieutenant Spine cringed, feet scrabbling at the floor desperately, despite knowing it was worthless. _

 

_ “Lennox! Get in here, we gotta cart him to the other room!”  _

 

_ A weedy looking man scurried into the room, glaring at The Spine like he personally offended the man, and pulled him down, carelessly dragging his body to the other room. _

 

_ A few minutes later, he was strapped to a table, spines unable to extend. The table itself was elevated at the feet, leaving his head closer to the ground with his lower body angled higher than him. _

 

_ He looked around suspiciously, trying to ignore his his breathing had picked up. He was scared. _

 

_ “Get the bucket,” The man says darkly. _

 

_ Lennox nodded nervously and quickly left. A moment later, he was back with a washcloth and a bucket with water. _

 

_ The Spine instantly knew what was going to happen and quickly started struggling, dragging in raspy breaths. _

 

_ “Tie his legs down,” he snaps, wetting the cloth and wringing it out. _

 

_ Soon, The Spine was completely restrained and a cloth was put over his face. He took in one gasping breath before he was covered. A moment later and water was being poured over the cloth, causing him to splutter and desperately draw in breaths, never getting enough air. _

 

_ After a minute, the cloth was pulled away and the mans face looked over him. “Now, what are your captains next plans of attack on my ships?” _

 

_ “I don't fucking know!” He snarls, breathing in loud gasps, gulping as much air in as he can.  _

 

_ “Well okay then..” He says with a grin, putting the cloth back on. _

 

_ Later on, the sound of The Spine’s screams could be heard echoing through the hallways. _

 

**.  . .**

 

The next time he awoke, the pain was dulled. 

 

_ Ah.. they must have gotten parts for my back, hopefully my spines too. _

 

The Spine sighed and attempted to stretch, but found he was still tied to the bed, albeit loosely. Panic flared up for a second anyway, and his mind snapped back to the memories before rational thought kicked in and he let out a breath, relaxing slightly.

 

Sooner, rather than later, a (human) doctor walked in with a professional air about him and stood at the foot of the bed. “Alright, the parts we haven't fixed yet should be coming in tomorrow, so you should be fixed up rather soon. And before you ask, after that you can leave about a day later, provided there are no mishaps with the rewiring and such,” the doctor explained. “Oh, and before I forget, my name’s Dr. Tray. Nice to formally meet you, Captain Spine.” He says this as he undoes The Spine's binds.

 

The Spine just kinda nodded along, trying not to jar his dented areas too much. “Um, any visitors?”

 

“Yes, actually. Would you like me to let him in?”

 

The Spine immediately started wondering who would want to see him.  _ Rabbit? No she's probably bossing the crew around.. it couldn't be  _ him..  _ could it? _

 

“Could I, by any chance, ask who it is?” He asks nervously, voice pitched a bit higher than usual.

 

“Certainly, he said his name was Hatchworth. Ring a bell?” He asks.

 

“Yes, ahh, let him in, if you would. I'd like to see why he's here.”

 

“Of course, give me one moment and he should be in here,” the doctor says easily, turning on his heel and striding out of the room.

 

Indeed, it was a good five minutes before he heard the familiar  _ clunk  _ of Hatchworth’s familiar gait.

 

The man himself walked in with an awkward smile and a cough. “Um.. Hey, Spine,” he greets nervously.

 

The Spine just tilts his head with a light smile and pats the bed-space beside him. The Spine was pretty sure if Hatchworth were capable of blushing, his face would be very red as he took a seat in the chair beside his bed and scooted it closer.

 

“So. How did you end up here, and how did. You know I was admitted?”

 

“I was uh, on the ship that rescued you. And I stayed because.. I care, about you,” Hatchworth pushes out, eyes flicking side to side nervously.

 

The Spine's eyes softened and he gently took Hatchworth's cool, metal hand. “I care about you also,” he says softly, shifting a little to settle his spines.

 

A thousand and one thoughts flashed through both their processors at the same time, but before either could overreact, they leant forward and met in the middle, lips colliding gently. The kiss lasted a total of two seconds before they pulled away with giddy grins. “We are doing that again,” proclaims Hatchworth. 

 

The Spine can only nod and laugh softly.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Might continue this? If I do it won't be for a while. Sorry.


End file.
